Students find the greatest common factor, reduce 16 fractions to simplest form and spot fractions already in simplest form.
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Students reduce fractions by finding the greatest common factor first. A worked example shows the method, and a factor box beside it gives room to list the factors of any fraction in the main set and circle the greatest shared one. Of the 16 fractions in Part C, several, like 72/96, have a large common factor that takes more than one step if students divide by smaller numbers. The key shows the greatest common factor and both divisions for every fraction.
Watch 22/34 and 38/16, where the only shared factor is 2. Students expecting a bigger factor often call them already simplest; ask whether both numbers are even.
Students who divide 24/40 by 2 often stop at 12/20. Have them check the new top and bottom for a shared factor before moving on, as the key's teacher tip shows.
In Part D, students who test only small factors miss that 13 divides 39. Ask them to try the top number itself as a factor of the bottom.
Ways to adjust the 20 fractions for different students.
Each one is checked against the official documents. Where the resource covers only part of a standard, the note says so.
Students list the factors of the top and bottom of a fraction, circle the greatest common factor, and divide by it. The least common multiple and the distributive-property part of this standard are not covered.
Students divide the top and bottom of 16 fractions by the same number to write an equivalent fraction in simplest form, and decide whether four fractions are already in simplest form. There are no visual fraction models, and students do not explain why the fractions are equal.
Students list all the factors of numbers up to 96 to find a shared factor. Multiples and prime or composite numbers are not asked about.
Students divide the top and bottom of 20 fractions by their greatest common factor to write an equal fraction in simplest form, and decide whether four fractions are already in simplest form; greatest common factor itself is not named in the Texas standards, and models are not used.
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